


tentative kisses given in the dark

by dorypop



Series: atla tumblr prompts [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Fire Lady Katara, Insomniac Zuko, Married Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25166986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorypop/pseuds/dorypop
Summary: Types of Kisses tumblr prompt: Tentative kisses given in the dark (Zutara)
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: atla tumblr prompts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823179
Comments: 2
Kudos: 72





	tentative kisses given in the dark

**Author's Note:**

> This one was prompted by the lovely [@Ailec_12](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailec_12/pseuds/Ailec_12)!  
> ([original post](https://hklnvgl.tumblr.com/post/620292976714842112/for-your-latest-writing-prompt-zutara-2-or-44))

It wasn’t uncommon that Zuko had problems to sleep. In fact, what was uncommon was him sleeping soundly and deeply for more than three hours a night.

He had nightmares—had had them for years. He was always stressed and couldn’t find enough hours a day to do everythind that needed getting done, which meant working late and mentally organising the following day’s work when finally in bed. He was often so exhausted he fell victim to insomnia and couldn’t fall asleep even when every pore in his skin was shouting at him to do so. He was a firebender, which meant no sleeping after dawn.

Katara helped—she always did. She was there when he awoke crying and was very adept at suffocating the fires he started in his sleep. She’d bullied his guards into preventing him from staying in the study when there were less than four hours until dawn. She told him old Water Tribe fairytales to help him sleep when she felt him turning and sighing with his eyes open. She couldn’t change the fact that his internal clock awoke with the sun, but she got mad if he awoke her too, so he left the blinds closed and tiptoed into the changing room, closing the door softly behind him not to disturb her still form.

She also had problems sleeping—she said it was too hot in the Fire Nation.

Zuko couldn’t say—he’d slept marginally better when he was searching the oceans for the Avatar, but that was because Uncle’s tea always helped him sleep, and also in Ba Sing Se, but back then he hadn’t been the Fire Lord.

He could actually function on little sleep—the thing was, when he felt rested he could reign his temper a bit better, and he felt himself smiling more to Katara, and he actually liked it when he let himself drift away while holding her, which happened, if they were lucky, maybe twice a month.

It was a hot night, because they all were. Katara’s latest idea to try and cool down the air, ice mountains spread around the room, were slowly melting away into the basins that held them. Katara herself, down to her undergarments, had each limb pointing to a different direction—she laid very still, perhaps hoping the lack of movement would diminish her body heat.

Zuko knew she wasn’t asleep either, though—her breath gave her away.

“Can’t sleep?” he whispered at the limp bundle that she’d become in the complete dark of the room.

She huffed.

“I refuse to have someone come into the room to fan us all night long,” she said, which made Zuko smile because that’d actually been Suki’s solution when presented with the problem.

“You could always go to the beach for a while,” Zuko suggested, distinctly recalling every good memory he held of Ember Island. He lazily lifted an arm and blindly poked until his finger reached Katara’s bare skin. He started tracing words in what he guessed was her arm, copying there old poems that spoke of peace and quiet.

He felt Katara’s shiver and felt a pang of satisfaction at the very bottom of his belly, knowing it wasn’t from cold.

“If I had to leave here,” and you, she didn’t say, but Zuko heard it in the way she rolled her tongue against her teeth, “I’d rather go somewhere where it’s actually cold, like, you know, the South Pole.”

Zuko smiled, but she never saw because it was dark and because his face was half buried into his pillows. He felt so very alert that the mere idea of sleeping made him want to laugh.

“Wanna do something fun?” he asked her, because she hadn’t refused his touch.

The bed dipped when she rolled towards him, like she could read his mind.

“Like what?” Her voice was very quiet—he could only catch it because she’d come closer and closer and had now trapped his arm under her weight. Her skin was hot when it touched his.

Zuko had to draw himself up a bit to reach her mouth, but he had a free elbow and plenty of practise exercising his abs.

“Like this,” he whispered against her lips, before catching them with his.

“Yeah?” she asked, when he let her go after just a moment. She was too proud to ask for more, but Zuko did not really mind giving away for free.

He kissed her lips again, and the corner of her mouth, and the line of her jaw, and the hollow space just below her ear. He couldn’t see her, but his hands knew where they wanted to go, and he trusted Katara to guide him if needed.


End file.
